Rudy Gay is reportedly available for trade (again) and Grantland lists the Bucks among the teams who make sense to pursue him. It's pure speculation and Zach Lowe even says he doesn't think the Bucks would get in the mix for Gay but I agree they make a ton of sense as a team he'd be a good fit with. Here's the writeup:

Milwaukee Bucks

Other teams are trying to figure out whether Milwaukee prefers Monta Ellis or Brandon Jennings long-term, but Ellis’s semi-expiring contract could work as a “best of both worlds” centerpiece for the Grizz. Ellis doesn’t bring the reliable long-range shooting Memphis sorely needs, but he can be a productive scoring guard under the right circumstances, even if he’s sort of a super-charged Jerryd Bayless. The Grizz need some creativity off the bench, and they have plenty of defensive stalwarts to cover for one sieve. A package of Ellis and Doron Lamb works and gets Memphis under the tax. The Bucks could put seldom-used Tobias Harris in Lamb’s spot, giving Memphis a promising small forward and opening up the wing a bit more for Gay.

Small forward is already very crowded in Milwaukee, with Mike Dunleavy Jr., Marquis Daniels, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute splitting minutes. Dealing Ellis would leave a giant hole at shooting guard, but it’s the kind of move a team in Milwaukee’s place — small market, unattractive to elite free agents — might make with the future in mind more than the present. If you can’t get an “A” star with the kind of cap room Milwaukee might have this summer, why not take a shot at an overpaid “B” star in the hope he develops into an “A-” guy on your dime? Milwaukee’s cap room for this summer depends on Ellis declining his own player option anyway, and the Bucks could make up the difference between Ellis’s deal and Gay’s by using the amnesty provision (remember that?) on Drew Gooden.

The Bucks have never liked the idea of paying Gooden (or anyone else) to go away, and my hunch is that they're not likely to get involved with Memphis here. But there might be a workable deal, especially if Gay wants out of the ultra-competitive Western Conference.

As always, the problem with Gay is he is a Michael Redd/RJ level player who is being paid a superstar max. (and he's maybe not as good as prime Redd/RJ)

He's owed $16, $18 and $19 over three years including this one. The good news is that he's only got three years left.

The trade from our standpoint has major financial consequences if done as proposed. We would send out about $11.650 million and take back about $16.460 million, so it just works under the cap for this year. But next year we'd be back to the Michael Redd problem. 1/3rd the cap tied up in one guy who isn't a needle mover.

Gay shot the ball horribly in December. Well off his career averages. My guess is that we'd exchange one chucker for a slightly better chucker who makes a lot more money.

ampd wrote:Gay has been inefficient this season and if we can buy low on a player like that who would fit perfectly with our team, I can't see not doing it.

The decline in efficiency is concerning but I think he'll bounce back and return to more career norms as the season goes on. I've always liked his talent and while he is an overpaid "B" like Press says I also agree with Lowe in saying this is likely the best way for a team like the Bucks (who adamantly oppose a full-blown tank) to get someone who could be a high-impact player.

As far as who would play SG you could go with Dunleavy or Udrih or perhaps make another trade (Ilyasova and Dunleavy perhaps) to land a new starter or a capable stopgap. Neither Dunleavy nor Beno are ideal obviously but the current SG can't defend Yi's chair so it's not like you'd be downgrading on that end of the court.

I'd prefer to avoid taking on any medium-long term big salary players in the hopes that it makes it easier to find someone to buy the team by the end of the season. Who knows how likely that is, but I'd still cling to that shred of hope.

ugh I knew this was coming. Rudy has been okay this season but not good enough and the Grizz can't break through to the WCF unless he takes a step up in his game. However, he has been injured as of late which has slowed him down.

In the end I don't think the Bucks will be the team he lands on since they're not good trading partners outside a 3 way deal. I do wonder if Granger could be part of a Gay package.

Obviously the Grizz have a big hole at SF to fill upon Gay's departure. I think an Atlanta deal is probably a decent idea.

Bucks will never be able to sign a better player than Rudy Gay and if people are trashing this organization for failing to take a risk on Zach Randolph then they should be the same people that want us to take the plunge and go after Rudy Gay in hopes that he can take his game to another level in a different system. Unfortunately, I don't think Skiles is the guy to take his game to the next level.

But I would certainly give up Monta Ellis & Lamb for him and if we could dump Gooden too then all the better.

Following up with a move of Dalembert for Morrow would give us some real good size & scoring at the wing positions.

Gay is better than Redd defensively but Redd was dramatically better offensively. Gay is not a guy that you want as the "best" player on your team. Unless they want to throw in Randolph or Gasol, no thanks.

EastSideBucksFan wrote:Bucks will never be able to sign a better player than Rudy Gay and if people are trashing this organization for failing to take a risk on Zach Randolph then they should be the same people that want us to take the plunge and go after Rudy Gay in hopes that he can take his game to another level in a different system. Unfortunately, I don't think Skiles is the guy to take his game to the next level.

But I would certainly give up Monta Ellis & Lamb for him and if we could dump Gooden too then all the better.

Following up with a move of Dalembert for Morrow would give us some real good size & scoring at the wing positions.

Rudy is also in an ideal situation for his game right now. He's doubled much less, has plenty of outlets, has a very good point guard and defensive partners. In Milwaukee he will face many more headwinds for his game to improve and likely the Bucks would be giving up Tobias Harris in the deal.

I don't think Rudy Gay in Milwaukee works very well and the wouldn't return the Grizz enough to take a step towards the WCF.

If the concern is who replaces Ellis at SG, the Bucks could also offer Ellis/Dunleavy which would help the Grizzlies on two levels - they save money and Dunleavy can be a stopgap SF to replace Gay the rest of the season. Milwaukee plugs in Lamb at SG and rolls with Gay and Harris at SF with Moute rotating in for his defense. Assuming the Grizzlies have any interest in Ellis, I think this is an offer they would seriously consider.

coolhandluke121 wrote:If the Bucks have a chance to trade Ellis and one decent prospect for Gay, they need to jump on that. They can fix the roster imbalances later.

You need to take a step back from the exuberance of change for change's sake. Gay is pretty much exactly the same guy you'll be doing a thread about six-months from now "Gay and Jennings not who the Bucks should build around" the same as the Redd/RJ thing.

To Neb's and Doc Holiday's points, Gay is not worth anything close to his contract.

Look at his career shooting percentages historically versus this year.

He may be a player looking for a better fit somewhere or he may be a player starting a decline like Rashard Lewis has undergone. If I'm going to gamble a $18-$20 million dollar salary slot for the next two seasons, it would not be for Rudy Gay.

Memphis has a tough call here. On one hand they'd like to be a title contender this year and need Gay, or at least last year's version of him to show up. On the other hand, they are going to be luxury tax payers unless a deal to dump Gay and take back $5mm less in salary shows up.

The more I think on this, the more I'd have the Bucks posture hard here if Memphis wants to move Rudy. We've seen teams give up future firsts simply to get under the luxury tax in years past. Memphis is the one over the barrel on this.

I don't tweet much, but when I do, it is the same garbage you get from me on here: